NCW team visits Geetika`s home; family demands CBI probe

New Delhi: A team of the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Tuesday visited the home of Geetika Sharma, a former flight attendant who hanged herself at her residence on Sunday.

The visit came as the family of the slain girl demanded a CBI probe into her death.

Earlier, the family of Geetika released photographs showing they were close to Gopal Goyal Kanda, the owner of MDLR Airlines and former Haryana minister of state for home.

The family claimed they had even visited several places, including Mumbai and Shirdi, together.

The family released the pictures as a proof that Geetika was not just an employee of Kanda but was also close to her. Geetika’s mother yesterday said Kanda had also paid her daughter’s fees for admission in an MBA institute.

The police had yesterday collected a laptop, a mobile phone and some photographs of Geetika Sharma. Also yesterday, Geetika’s post-mortem was conducted.

Sharma, 23, a former flight attendant of the now-defunct MDLR Airlines, hanged herself in North Delhi`s Ashok Vihar on Sunday and in her suicide note blamed her ex-employer Gopal Goyal Kanda for the extreme step, police said.

Some of her photographs collected from her house were with Kanda, who resigned from Haryana Cabinet on Sunday evening, police said. Her personal diary as well as some official papers were collected earlier.

"The probe is on and it would take some time to confirm the real cause behind Sharma`s extreme step," said a police officer.

The post-mortem report would be available on Tuesday, he said.

In her two-page suicide note, the victim blamed Kanda, chairman and managing director of MDLR, and Aruna Chadha, MDLR manager, for breaking her trust, ruining her and hurting her family, police said, adding that a case of abetment to suicide was registered against them.

Kanda`s airline ceased to function in 2009 and Sharma was given a job in another company owned by him, police said.

Sharma had joined MDLR in 2006 as an air-hostess. In 2009, she quit her job and left the country to work with Emirates Airlines. However, she had only worked there for a few months before returning to the country. In 2010, she again joined MDLR, this time as an executive director, police said.

According to the victim`s brother, Gaurav Sharma, his sister was being constantly harassed by Kanda and his colleague Aruna Chadha, both mentally and psychologically.

"My sister quit her job and decided to work with Emirates and had gone for training in Dubai but Kanda wrote to them accusing my sister of having a bad character which led to her termination," he told reporters.

She was being asked by Kanda to join his company again, added Sharma.

Kanda meanwhile claimed innocence saying he quit from Cabinet to facilitate a fair investigation into the suicide of Geetika.

“I am innocent and I am keen that the investigation is done quickly so that the truth will come out. That’s why I resigned,” Kanda said in a statement.

Denying all allegations against him, Kanda said on the contrary, the company and he himself encouraged Geetika when she wanted to pursue her MBA.

“We gave her Rs 7.5 lakh for her studies and even made her chairman of the trust that runs my international school in Sirsa. I did not have any contact with her after that,” the former minister said.

MDLR group chief coordinator, Aruna Chadha, contacted Geetika as she was not reporting to work after taking the cheque, the statement said. It said that Chadha requested her to come and sign the relevant papers pertaining to the school.

“Her mother, in fact, spoke to me saying they would return the money. But I explained to her that I was in no hurry to get back the money. I only asked her to send Geetika to clear some pending paper work. That was all,” Kanda said.

“The call data records are with the police and they clearly prove that I never spoke to her for over two months. Hence, this concocted story of harassment from our side is clearly unjustified,” the former minister said in the statement issued to the media.

“All of a sudden, she stopped coming to office and later we heard that she took a job with the Emirates. She returned after eight months or so and she appeared to be disturbed. She requested us for job in our company again and we accommodated her on the basis of her good track record with our company and she was undoubtedly a good worker,” he said.

Kanda maintained that he and his wife were in good terms with the family of the deceased.